Martin County, Indiana

Martin County
County
Martin County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Indiana
Indiana's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 38°43′N86°48′W / 38.71°N 86.8°W / 38.71; -86.8
Country	United States
State	Indiana
Founded	January 20, 1820
Named for	Major John T. Martin
Seat	Shoals
Largest city	Loogootee
Area
• Total	340.41 sq mi (881.7 km2)
• Land	335.74 sq mi (869.6 km2)
• Water	4.67 sq mi (12.1 km2)  1.37%
Population  (2020)
• Total	9,812
• Estimate  (2023)	9,897
• Density	29/sq mi (11/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	8th
Website	martincountyindiana.com
Indiana county number 51

Martin County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 9,812. ^[1] The county seat is Shoals at the center of the county, ^[2] and the county's only incorporated city is Loogootee, on the county's western border. ^[3]

History

The Indiana Territory achieved statehood near the end of 1816. Shortly thereafter, the new State legislature created Dubois (December 1817) and Daviess (February 1818) counties. Due to the inflow of settlers into southwest Indiana, and the difficulty of accessing the county seats of those counties, Martin County was partitioned off from parts of those counties, being authorized on January 20, 1820. It was named for Maj. John T. Martin of Newport, Kentucky. ^{[4] [5]}

Geography

The hills of Martin County are largely wooded and cut with drainages; ^[3] the available area is devoted to agriculture, development, or is under control of the US Government - about a third of the county belongs to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, and about a quarter of the county belongs to Hoosier National Forest. The highest point (870 feet/270 meters ASL) is in Mitcheltree Township, within NSA Crane. ^[6]

The East Fork of the White River flows southwestward through the lower part of the county. The central part of the county is drained by Indian Creek, which discharges into White River near the center of the county. The upper part of the county is drained by Boggs Creek, which discharges into White River near the county's western edge. ^[3]

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of 340.41 square miles (881.7 km²), of which 335.74 square miles (869.6 km²) (or 98.63%) is land and 4.67 square miles (12.1 km²) (or 1.37%) is water. ^[7]

Adjacent counties

• Greene County - north
• Lawrence County - east
• Orange County - southeast
• Dubois County - south
• Daviess County - west

Protected areas

• Hoosier National Forest (part) ^[8] in northeast and southeast parts of Martin County. Administered by US Forest Service
• Martin State Forest - in eastern part of Martin County. Administered by Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Lakes

• Greenwood Lake
• Seed Tick Lake
• West Boggs Lake (part) ^[3]

Highways

• U.S. Route 50
• U.S. Route 150
• U.S. Route 231
• State Road 450
• State Road 550
• State Road 650

City and towns

• Crane
• Loogootee (city)
• Shoals

Unincorporated communities

• Bramble
• Burns City (census-designated place)
• Cale
• Dover Hill (census-designated place)
• Hindostan Falls
• Indian Springs
• Ironton
• Lacy
• Mount Olive
• Mount Pleasant
• Natchez
• Padanaram
• Pleasant Valley
• Rusk
• Scenic Hill
• Shoals Overlook
• South Martin
• Trinity Springs
• Whitfield
• Willow Valley
• Windom
• Yenne

Townships

• Center
• Halbert
• Lost River
• Mitcheltree
• Perry
• Rutherford

Climate and weather

Shoals, Indiana
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.2     37 19     2.9     43 22     4.3     54 31     4.5     65 40     5.6     75 50     4.2     83 59     4.7     86 64     3.8     85 62     3.4     79 54     3.1     68 42     4.5     54 34     3.5     42 24 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches Source: The Weather Channel [9]
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     80     3 −7     74     6 −6     108     12 −1     114     18 4     142     24 10     108     28 15     120     30 18     96     29 17     85     26 12     80     20 6     114     12 1     90     6 −4 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm

In recent years, average temperatures in Shoals have ranged from a low of 19 °F (−7 °C) in January to a high of 86 °F (30 °C) in July, although a record low of −23 °F (−31 °C) was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of 104 °F (40 °C) was recorded in July 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.92 inches (74 mm) in February to 5.60 inches (142 mm) in May. ^[9]

Government

See also: Government of Indiana

The county government is a constitutional body, and is granted specific powers by the Constitution of Indiana, and by the Indiana Code.

County Council: The legislative branch of the county government; controls spending and revenue collection in the county. Representatives are elected to four-year terms from county districts. They are responsible for setting salaries, the annual budget, and special spending. The council has limited authority to impose local taxes, in the form of an income and property tax that is subject to state level approval, excise taxes, and service taxes. ^{[10] [11]}

Board of Commissioners: The executive body of the county; commissioners are elected county-wide to staggered four-year terms. One commissioner serves as president. The commissioners execute the acts legislated by the council, collect revenue, and manage the county government. ^{[10] [11]}

Court: The county maintains a small claims court that handles civil cases. The judge on the court is elected to a term of four years and must be a member of the Indiana Bar Association. The judge is assisted by a constable who is also elected to a four-year term. In some cases, court decisions can be appealed to the state level circuit court. ^[11]

County Officials: The county has other elected offices, including sheriff, coroner, auditor, treasurer, recorder, surveyor, and circuit court clerk. Officers are elected to four-year terms. Members elected to county government positions are required to declare party affiliations and to be residents of the county. ^[11]

Martin County is part of Indiana's 8th congressional district; Indiana Senate district 39; ^[12] and Indiana House of Representatives districts 62 and 63. ^[13]

Political Culture

United States presidential election results for Martin County, Indiana ^[14]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	3,961	79.35%	933	18.69%	98	1.96%
2020	4,029	78.16%	1,011	19.61%	115	2.23%
2016	3,697	76.29%	881	18.18%	268	5.53%
2012	3,262	68.78%	1,351	28.48%	130	2.74%
2008	3,122	63.68%	1,706	34.80%	75	1.53%
2004	3,414	68.33%	1,522	30.46%	60	1.20%
2000	3,008	65.26%	1,518	32.94%	83	1.80%
1996	2,281	48.33%	1,848	39.15%	591	12.52%
1992	2,523	46.40%	2,018	37.11%	897	16.50%
1988	3,066	58.75%	2,132	40.85%	21	0.40%
1984	3,363	63.07%	1,937	36.33%	32	0.60%
1980	3,082	53.33%	2,479	42.90%	218	3.77%
1976	2,702	48.55%	2,827	50.80%	36	0.65%
1972	3,470	62.99%	2,021	36.69%	18	0.33%
1968	2,512	46.22%	2,315	42.59%	608	11.19%
1964	2,000	38.87%	3,137	60.96%	9	0.17%
1960	2,756	51.55%	2,585	48.35%	5	0.09%
1956	2,946	55.63%	2,343	44.24%	7	0.13%
1952	2,757	51.71%	2,546	47.75%	29	0.54%
1948	2,230	43.96%	2,788	54.96%	55	1.08%
1944	2,467	49.37%	2,515	50.33%	15	0.30%
1940	2,902	52.28%	2,638	47.52%	11	0.20%
1936	2,583	46.57%	2,923	52.70%	40	0.72%
1932	2,106	40.31%	3,072	58.79%	47	0.90%
1928	2,450	51.88%	2,245	47.54%	27	0.57%
1924	2,470	46.77%	2,669	50.54%	142	2.69%
1920	2,747	52.27%	2,443	46.49%	65	1.24%
1916	1,534	48.93%	1,549	49.41%	52	1.66%
1912	975	32.28%	1,440	47.68%	605	20.03%
1908	1,667	48.35%	1,733	50.26%	48	1.39%
1904	1,809	52.21%	1,574	45.43%	82	2.37%
1900	1,712	49.90%	1,660	48.38%	59	1.72%
1896	1,384	44.37%	1,719	55.11%	16	0.51%
1892	1,283	44.04%	1,391	47.75%	239	8.20%
1888	1,391	46.99%	1,558	52.64%	11	0.37%

Education

School	Type	Enrollment	Mascot	Colors	IHSAA Class	Athletic Conference
Loogootee High School	Public	325	Lions		A	Blue Chip Conference
Shoals High School	Public	223	JugRox		A	Blue Chip Conference

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1820	1,032		—
1830	2,010		94.8%
1840	3,875		92.8%
1850	5,941		53.3%
1860	8,975		51.1%
1870	11,103		23.7%
1880	13,475		21.4%
1890	13,973		3.7%
1900	14,711		5.3%
1910	12,950		−12.0%
1920	11,865		−8.4%
1930	10,103		−14.9%
1940	10,300		1.9%
1950	10,678		3.7%
1960	10,608		−0.7%
1970	10,969		3.4%
1980	11,001		0.3%
1990	10,369		−5.7%
2000	10,369		0.0%
2010	10,334		−0.3%
2020	10,327		−0.1%
2023 (est.)	9,897	[15]	−4.2%
US Decennial Census [16] 1790-1960 [17] 1900-1990 [18] 1990-2000 [19] 2010-2013 [20]

2010 Census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 10,334 people, 4,216 households, and 2,832 families in the county. ^[21] The population density was 30.8 inhabitants per square mile (11.9/km²). There were 4,786 housing units at an average density of 14.3 per square mile (5.5/km²). ^[7] The racial makeup of the county was 98.4% white, 0.3% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.2% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.7% of the population. ^[21] In terms of ancestry, 27.8% were German, 19.2% were Irish, 14.9% were English, and 12.7% were American. ^[22]

Of the 4,216 households, 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.8% were non-families, and 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age was 41.8 years. ^[21]

The median income for a household in the county was $47,697 and the median income for a family was $55,017. Males had a median income of $41,411 versus $30,503 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,750. About 8.6% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.2% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over. ^[23]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Martin County, Indiana

References

1. 2020 census
2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
3. Martin County IN (Google Maps, accessed 2 August 2020)
4. De Witt Clinton Goodrich & Charles Richard Tuttle (1875). An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana. Indiana: R. S. Peale & Co. p.  567.
5. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Government Printing Office. p.  201.
6. Martin County High Point, Indiana (PeakBagger.com, accessed 2 August 2020)
7. "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
8. Map of Hoosier National Forest, showing its NW portion extending into the northeast and southeast parts of Martin County (US Forest Service, accessed 2 August 2020)
9. "Monthly Averages for Shoals IN". The Weather Channel. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
10. Indiana Code. "Title 36, Article 2, Section 3". IN.gov. Retrieved September 16, 2008.
11. Indiana Code. "Title 2, Article 10, Section 2" (PDF). IN.gov. Retrieved September 16, 2008.
12. Indiana Senate Districts (accessed 2 August 2020)
13. Indiana House Districts (accessed 2 August 2020)
14. Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
15. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
16. "US Decennial Census". US Census Bureau. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
17. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
18. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". US Census Bureau. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
19. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). US Census Bureau. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
20. "Martin County QuickFacts". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2011.
21. "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
22. "Selected Social Characteristics in the US – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
23. "Selected Economic Characteristics – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 14, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2015.

38°43′N86°48′W / 38.71°N 86.80°W / 38.71; -86.80